Thursday, September 30, 2010

(In order to be a pedophile you'd first have to exist and since the magical zombie that was really his own dad described in the bible wasn't real, Jesus couldn't possibly have been a pedophile. )

The reason for my blatant and some would say uncalled for blasphemy is that today -is blasphemy day! The only American holiday other than thanksgiving that's worth celebrating and its not just about the good clean fun that is calling Jesus a pedophile, it's about promoting free thought as well as free speech and the rights of not only non-believers, but dissidents of all forms to speak out against things with which they do not agree as well as the rights of all of us to simply speak our minds without fear of imprisonment, violence, or death, a right which for much of the world still doesn't exist.

For me, it's the threats of violence and death waged against those who of us who question or criticize religious tradition, ideals or beliefs that I find most egregious. Primarily because more and more the response from others seems to be that we simply shouldn't have provoked the violence in the first place by offending someone else's religious beliefs, as though that somehow justifies the violence.That's not how things should be.

No matter how offensive you may find anything I have to say, No idea or individual, or object, is sacred or immune to criticism or insult. I have the right to insult your president, your country, your mother, and your beliefs. I can call Jesus a pedophile, the pope an asshole, or spend my time writing short stories detailing the prophet Mohammad's love of bacon sandwiches and gay anal sex, or drawing pictures of him doing those very things, and you do not have the right to threaten my life because you find it offensive - And if you do threaten my life, then the answer should not be that I shouldn't have provoked your wrath by insulting your beliefs.-CAINE-

Finaly, because I love this video and now seems an apropriate time to share it, Penn Jillette shares what he belives- which just happens to be exactly what I believe, except the part about the jello. I hate jello.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

According to a study conducted by Italian scientists using five years worth of data collected by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, methane concentrations on mars change with the seasons as well as location.

led by Sergio Fonti of Italy's Universita del Salento, scientists studied around three million observations from the Mars Global Serveyor made between July 1999 and October 2004, which is around three years on Mars. They found that during the fall methane peaks in three regions on the planet: Elysium, Arabias Terre, and Tharsis. The methane concentration in these regions then falls to it's lowest level in winter before rising to it's highest level of concentration in summer, allowing the gas to spread throughout the Martian atmosphere before dissipating and then somehow being replenished, beginning the cycle again.

The discovery and observation of extraterrestrial methane tends to excite researchers and the public alike because methane is most commonly produced one of two ways. Either through geologic activity, volcanic eruptions, or biological processes, the life cycle of plants and animals. But methane can also be produced through chemical processes such as carbon dioxide combining with melted ice beneath mars' surface. This, obviously, seems the most likely scenario given that the Tharsis and Elysium regions are home to the two largest volcanoes on Mars, and the Arabia Terrae region is believed to poses a vast amount of water ice beneath it's sands.-CAINE-

Sunday, September 26, 2010

This image of the Antennae galaxies, which is located between 45-62 million light-years from Earth and takes it's name from the long antennae-like arms visible in wide-angle views of the system, was created by combining images taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory ( blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold and brown), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red).

The galaxies in this image began their collision around 100million years ago. That collision resulted in the birth of millions of stars and left the merging systems in a constant state of star production. The most massive stars created by this merger have long since burned through their fuel and exploded leaving behind supernova and black holes, some potentially 100 times the size of the sun. Scientists estimate it will be as long as 400 million years before the system settles into a single elliptical galaxy.-CAINE-

PZ Myers has quickly become one of my absolute favorite living humans for so many reasons. One such reason is that like me, he clearly sees no need to apologize for who he is and what he believes and I love that!

See, for a long haired metal-head musician freak such as myself to go around carrying on about the evils and absurdity of religious beliefs or defiling bibles and Korans, all of which I do, is not such a big deal. Most just write it off as a stunt done for pure shock value and assume that I'll eventually stop rebelling and grow out of it, which is complete crap and NEVER going to happen by the way, but that's besides the point. But when a man with a respectable haircut and a university job does it, people tend to take it more seriously. So when I saw this weeks "Sunday Sacrilege" entry on Pharyngula I just had to mention it here.

Focusing first on the absurd assertion,-and the consequences which come with it- made by believers that we godless heathens must respect their books, idols, and beliefs, even if we don't believe in them ourselves- Myers goes on to describe how his rejection of this idea led him to a reevaluation of his own book collection. Ultimately leading to his decision to find an alternative use for a Koran and a Bible which you can see in the video below.

If your not doing so already, start reading PZ's Blog Pharyngula. Besides being a godless heathen Myers is also quite funny, insightful, entertaining and well worth your time to follow even if your not an angry atheist like me.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Need proof that there is no god? Hows this, not only has Keanu reeves become a multi-millionaire over the years via his "acting" ability. -Whoa- But Bill and Ted is now destined to become a trilogy according to Alex Winter AKA "Bill". Ya know, because the first two just left so many unanswered questions.

I find this development most non-triumphant.

-CAINE-

Read more about the arrival of this particular horseman of the apocalypse at: i09

Despite having first been observed in 1965 by the Mariner 4 spacecraft, planetary scientists remain uncertain as to the exact origin of the oblong crater on Mars dubbed, "Orcus Patera", seen in the above image from the ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. This 236 mile long formation is located on the planets equator, has a mile high rim, and it's floor lies between 1300 and 1900 feet below the surrounding terrain.

While the crater is situated between two volcanoes, Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons, and has been designated a petera -the name for irregularly shaped volcanic craters- scientists are not certain that Orcus has a volcanic origin. In fact, the most likely explanation for the crater seems to be from a small object striking the planet at a shallow angle like a rock skipping on the surface of a pond leaving the oblong shaped crater in it's wake.-CAINE-

For more info, check out this article on Wired Science and go HERE to view the original article on the ESA website. Also, if you've never done so before then be sure to visit the ESA website and check out more images from Mars Express.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum). More images available on the ESA website

At a glance the union of a man in face paint and a breast plate, fronting a blasphemous Death Metal band, and a blond pop-star described by some as a "polish Britney spears", might seem odd, and not just because the last time I checked no one ever accused Britney of having an IQ over 140.

But polish pop-star "Doda", Behemoth front man Nergal's fiance, made headlines herself in Poland earlier this year after publically saying of the bible, "It is hard to believe in something written by people who drank too much wine and smoked herbal cigarettes." a comment for which she could potentially face two years in prison under Poland's blasphemy laws.

Nergal himself faced the same charges in March of this year after tearing up a bible on stage during a show, which PZ Myers blogged about BTW, I knew I liked that guy!

All of this came to my attention, except the bit about the bible, right after I discovered much to my dismay, that Nergal had been diagnosed with leukemia and was awaiting a bone marrow transplant for treatment. Since Behemoth is not what you would call a mainstream act there isn't a lot of information about his conditional available but, the overwhelming response from fans and the inevitable claim of religious critics that his illness has or will lead to his conversion to chrstianity, have prompted Nergal to release a statement on the bands page which I wanted post in part here.

In response to the notion that his illness might lead him "back" to god:

"Finally, I want to comment on some opinions which, provoked by religious circles, lead to far-fetched and inaccurate interpretations. I was surprised to hear my illness became a pretext for some people to embark on their own crusade. Opinions suggesting I might come closer to God or abandon my ideals and grovel to the only correct world view in this country not only surprised but also frightened me. This is a typical example of supporting one's own views by preying on someone's misfortune. 'He fell ill so he will convert to Christianity, he will discover the religion he fought against is actually close to him.' Halt! Why should the illness change my point of view? It is true this is a difficult time for me and the thoughts of ultimate matters are hard to chase away. But the idea that I will change my opinions, priorities, and values as a consequence of my illness sounds as if someone regards my head, and not my body, ill. Suggesting I might convert are ridiculous. To what would I convert? After all, I know Christian mythology pretty well, not only in its literary version, and I find nothing good, creative or beautiful in it. I read books better and wiser than the Bible. War, blood, blackmail, rapes, incest, pedophilia, zoophilia, collaboration and treachery – each page emanates with evil. Some may say I don't understand the message of the Bible. I'd rather say the Christianity is nothing more than a rusty and archaic structure that is going to fall down any moment. It lasts only because of the gullible that follow the shepherd blindly; without any questions, without any consideration, not to any promised land, but to an intellectual slaughter. So, I say to those, who see some chances to break my rules, and myself because of the illness: over my dead body!"

what ever you may think of his music or his persona, I've seen few people in the world with the strength of character it takes to assert and maintain their personal beliefs and convictions in the face of their own mortality, and it's for that reason I wanted to share this portion of his statement here.

As for his condition, while he does not go into specific detail, he does acknowledge the long and difficult fight ahead him, which he asserts he has no intention of loosing. I sincerely hope he does manage to defy the odds and goes on to continue creating music and challenging religious authority and tradition for years to come. The world needs more angry atheists, not less.

If you'd like to learn about donating bone marrow go to: www.marrow.com, and you read the rest of Nergal's statementHERE on the band's web page.

-CAINE-

Behemoth's newest CD, "Evangelion" has quickly become one of my favorites. Below is the video of one of my favorite tracks from the CD, "Ov Fire and the Void". BUT, be forewarned, this is the uncensored version of the video and there is some brief nudity. So if you happen to have a nipple phobia, do not watch.

Friday, September 17, 2010

There are a number of things I come upon during my travels here on the internets that I find entertaining, bizzar, or just plain disturbing, but for one reason or another choose not to share them here. Instead, I've started a new blog on tumblr that's just for all of the strange, funny and perhaps at times vulgar and offensive things I find on the net. So far the collection is rather small and pretty tame, but the rapid fire style of tumblr blogs means its easier for me to post on the site during the week since entries there don't require the research my posts here often do, so the collection should grow rather quickly and as it does you should probably expect it to get stranger and darker.

You can view my new, "Compendium oF Strange" on tumblr at: www.compendiumofstrange.tumblr.com, and you can keep up with the compendium, as well as this blog and all the rest of my activities, by following my brand new Twitter feed at:@GodlessGeek_ on Twitter.com. You should also check out my Facebook page where you can hear my music as well as follow all of my posts here and now on the compendium.

So please, if you enjoy the content I create then follow me on Twitter, like my musician page on Facebook and help me grow my audience by sharing it all with your friends. If you do I promise to reward you with even more content like say... A new band, a web comic, and maybe a place to buy strange and offensive T-shirts and stickers. Not that I'm already working on ANY of those things, I'm just sayin, I could if you wanted me to.-CAINE-

Notice how young boys seem to be inherently afraid of him, why is that do ya think?...Moving on!

As you are no doubt already aware, pope Palpatine-seen above beckoning two young boys to join the dark side-arrived in Brittan yesterday where he wasted no time engaging in the long standing catholic tradition of spreading ignorance and misinformation. This time around the emperor kicked things of by warning the largely secular nation about the dangers of atheism, wrongly sighting Hitler's drive to eradicate god from society as the catalyst which led to the evil of the Nazi regime, while simultaneously painting the church as a nobel leader who directly opposed Hitler's efforts.

"Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live. I also recall the regime's attitude to Christian pastors and religious who spoke the truth in love, opposed the Nazis and paid for that opposition with their lives. As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus to a "reductive vision of the person and his destiny"- Ratz

I could go on and on about why EVERYTHING he said is wrong, pointing out that Hitler's actual religious beliefs are unclear and that he actually spoke against atheism on several occasions. I could also point out that historically speaking the church's opposition to Hitler was at best, luke-warm. But I'm kind of hoping you already know all that and besides, it's the pope what did you expect? Facts?

Instead, here's someone much smarter than I am to tell you things you might not know about Ratzinger and the church, as well as expressing all of my own feelings on the Catholic church and it's role in the world more eloquently than I ever could.-CAINE-

From the Intelligence2 debate in response to the motion that, the catholic church is a force for good in the world, Stephen Fry.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

By timing the oscillations between valence electrons through a process called attosecond absorption spectroscopy, scientists were able to use ultra short flashes of laser light( cycles lasting around a quadrillionth of a second) to directly observe the movements of an atom's outer electrons for the very first time.

Using an infra red laser pulse researchers first ionized Krypton (yes it's a real element) atoms causing them to loose one to three electrons from their outer shell. They then used a second extreme-ultraviolet pulse on the same path as the first to excite electrons in the next energy orbital beneath the outer most shell causing them to jump to the outer orbit filling the gaps created by the first pulse. This in turn, caused the electrons to begin switching between the two orbits, creating a complementary interference pattern which scientists were then able to directly measure and observe.

-CAINE-

For more technical information on this story check out the following article from io9 or the original article directly from the Berkley Lab web page.

Monday, September 13, 2010

"Galileo was wrong, the church was right". That my friends is the name given to the: "first annual catholic conference on geocentrism". That's right kids, geocentrism. You know, the belief that the Earth is the center of the universe and everything else revolves around it.

I know what your thinking. Like me when I first read this on Phyrangula last night you're thinking, It's gotta be a joke right? Some kind of parody or a hoax.

Well...as far as I can tell...

No, it's real.

I know it hurts, I'll give you a moment....OK, let's move on,

Yes believe it or not it seems there really are still people living in America, in the year 2010, who have somehow managed to maintain the belief that the Earth is actually the center of the universe and more importantly, that science KNOWS the earth is the center of the universe but is hiding the truth from us, presumably to drive people away from god.

How many Americans actually believe this you say? According to Wikipedia, 18%.

I'll give you another moment......Better? Good, I'll continue.

The man responsible for the upcoming convention is, DR. Robert Sungenis. Dr Sungenis is, it seems anyway, a real live human being or perhaps a reptoid, it's always so hard to tell, and the head of Catholic Apologetics International, according to his entry on creation wiki. More importantly, he is also the author of two volumes worth of material entitled, say it with me now, "Galileio was wrong, the chruch was right", which you'll be happy to know you can pick up on amazon.com, used, for a mere 98 dollars and 95cents.

So if you've EVER even considered the notion of "teaching the controversy" in schools where science is concerned. REMEMBER: a percentage of the people in this very country, however small that percentage may actually be, believe that the earth is the center of the universe and if you think basic scientific principals should be taught as "questions of faith" or multiple choice issues, then It's ALL YOUR FAULT.-CAINE-

I hope Phil plait dosen't mind if I borrow this because it has to be said,

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Developed by a research group from Tokyo University, E-skin is a highly conductive rubber-like material capable of stretching 1.7 times it's original size without any loss of conductivity. With the ability to be stretched over any rough surface, this new electronic skin could be used for a near limitless variety of applications including as a touch sensitive artificial skin.

The prototype can detect pressures between 0 and 15 kilopascals. -A kilopascal is approximately the pressure exerted by a 10-g mass resting on a 1-cm2 area. 0 to 15 Kpa is equivalent to the pressure experienced while holding a small object.- Because the skin is flexible, it changes thickness in response to pressure allowing built in capacitors to then measure that pressure.-CAINE-

"The plane of our Milky Way Galaxy runs through this complex and beautiful skyscape. At the northwestern edge of the constellation Vela (the Sails) the four frame mosaic is over 10 degrees wide, centered on the glowing filaments of the Vela Supernova Remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a massive star. Light from the supernova explosion that created the Vela remnant reached Earth about 11,000 years ago. In addition to the shocked filaments of glowing gas, the cosmic catastrophe also left behind an incredibly dense, rotating stellar core, the Vela Pulsar. Some 800 light-years distant, the Vela remnant is likely embedded in a larger and older supernova remnant, the Gum Nebula. "

You can also view this post on the Tumblr blog:itsfullofstarsAlso, be sure to check out Marco's astrophotography galleries on his site, Star Echoes.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Time lapse video of the Perseid Meteor Shower and the galactic core of the Milky Way as seen from Joshua Tree National Park. Shot between August 12 and August 15, 2010

The above video was made by splicing together two nights worth of footage taken at Joshua Tree National Park in California. If you didn't try to view the shower this year it seems to have been less than spectacular viewing for most who tried, myself included. So while there's not a particularly massive amount of shooting stars and there's definitely a few planes in the mix, just watching the rotation of the stars themselves over the course of a night is pretty cool.-CAINE-

The bit at the end when he pours the remaining nitrogen into the lake is pretty cool too, its like a fifties horror movie set.

The difference in temperature between the human flesh and liquid nitrogen causes the liquid to boil and become a gas creating an insulating layer of bubbles protecting the flesh from frostbite. This effect is known as the Leiden frost effect and is the same phenomena Adam and Jamie demonstrated on Mythbusters when they took turn dipping their hands in molten lead.-CAINE-

Friday, September 10, 2010

Did we really have to give Terry Jones and the handful of idiots who follow him all the publicity they wanted and more?

Did the president REALLY need to get involved and now that he has, and now that the media has spent so much time and energy covering Jones' stunt, do you think he'll just slink back into the realm of obscurity where he belongs? Or do you think he'll be using his new found fame to build his organization in preparation for his next stunt? I know which option I'm voting for.

Oh well, on with the satire I suppose..

-CAINE-

"The Christian Cannibals Supper for Salvation"! BE THERE or burn in hell!

In the event you find any of the above content offensive due to your support of the efforts of people like Jones and Phelps, please report to your nearest doctor's office, veterinary clinic, or butcher and have yourself sterilized immediately. seriously, for the good of the world, don't breed.

Yes I know, I'm at least a week behind the rest of the world but I'm still trying to work time to blog back into my schedule, so bear with me...

-"Physicist Stephen Hawking clarifies his belief on god's role in the creation of the universe"-

That probably should have been the headline surrounding the quote released from Hawking's newest book last week in which he stated that god is not necessary to create the universe. While not an entirely manufactured controversy, the decision to release this particular quote was a fairly obvious, and effective, attempt to Promote Hawking's newest book (which I just finished downloading from itunes BTW.) " The Grand Design" which he co-wrote with Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinov.

The popular media of course ran with the idea that Hawking had somehow significantly altered or even reversed his original position which it's completely obvious he has not if you've read or heard anything he has written over the past thirty years or so. Fortunately, I was far from the only person to feel this way and aside from a little frothing from the usual conservative and religious sources, the controversy fizzled and died fairly quickly. But not before Fox News, you know the "Fair and balanced" guys who go absolutely ape-shit when anyone suggest that they are anything but- or that they spend 95% of their time spewing christian propaganda, managed to post this little sermon on their website:

"The scientist Stephen Hawking is out with another book that will delight his fellow atheists. Hawking says there is no room for God in science and that a creator is not behind the universe. Gravity, he says, is what united particles after the "Big Bang" and produced our planet, this universe and many other universes in which he believes life also exists.

Here are some verses that refute that: "Anyone who wishes to know God, must first acknowledge he exists;" "Were you there when I laid the foundations of the world?" "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise."

As one translation puts it: "God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed."

And then there are these: “the fool has said in his heart ‘there is no God’” and “the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.”

If Hawking thinks it’s all foolishness, isn’t that evidence he is perishing?

I'm not about to waste any one's time attempting to point out all the things that are wrong with the above- what I assume is meant to be- editorial comment, but the point of it seems to be this: People who question my god's existence are dumb and dieing. Hawking questions my god's existence-THEREFORE- Hawking must be dumb and dieing so don't listen to him and go nuke a gay whale for Jesus. OK... the gay whale thing is speculation on my part but I think it fits the overall message of the post.-CAINE-

Monday, September 6, 2010

As of Saturday I FINALLY regained access to the net and can once again start blogging on a regular basis which I will officially begin doing later this week after I have completed a few projects I began while away. In celebration of my return, I decided to give in and join the rest of the world on Twitter and I have also started setting up a new blog on Tumblr where I can post some of the stranger things I come upon during my exploits on the net, things like today's video. So be sure to follow me on Twitter at: @GodlessGeek_ and stay tuned for a link to my new blog on Tumblr later this week.-CAINE-

Speaking of strange things and zombie clowns...

The AMAZINGLY well produced, filmed, and scored independent short below entitled, "Le Queloune (The Clown)", was created by autodidactic director,writer, FX artist, and editor, Patrick Boivin and once again proves that clowns, while amusing in a disturbing kind of way, are ALWAYS creepy!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Check out this time lapse created by NASA astronaut Don Pettit while on board the ISS, very cool. The strange green lights you see, in case you didn't know, are the aurora borealis or northern lights as seen from space. Once again head over to this article on wired science for additional stills from the ISS and more info on the video.-CAINE-

Blogging via iPhone while not impossible, is kind of a pain in the ass (it took me 45 minutes just to create this post) so I haven't been doing it. But IF things go as planned, then come Saturday I should finally be able to connect to the net via PC again. So once again please excuse my continued neglect but I will hopefully be able to return to my previous posting habits very soon.

In the meantime...

Sunday night was the premier of Phil plait's bad universe on the discovery channel which is a three part pilot based on Phil's book death from the skies. The theme for episode one was asteroid impacts and what, if anything, could be done to avert an asteroid based disaster. This of course meant lots of explosions and cool high speed footage to analyze but there was also plenty of science to go around as well, think The Universe meets Mythbusters. I really enjoyed the first episode and with any luck enough of us will tune in that it gets picked up and turned into a series. So if you missed Sunday's premier be sure to check out the next two episodes Sunday nights at ten, depending where you are of course.Here's a preview...

In keeping with the asteroid theme, here's a cool animation from scott Manley of the Armagh observatory which plots all of the asteroids discovered over the past thity years. Also check out this article from wired science for more info on this animation.-CAINE-